OT: Trout vs. Mantle

[bn2cardz]

Well Trout's Strikout average is higher in his first 4 years than Mantles... so he is better at doing that.

[packs]

I think it's just exciting for people who didn't get to see a player in their prime (like me who never saw Mantle) to see a comparable player. Of course the media has other motivations and loves sensationalism.

Within my generation, I'm looking forward to the days ahead when some 18 year old is being called the next Ken Griffey Jr. and I can tell all of the kids how no one was better than Griffey.

[RTK]

I barely recall Mantle only from televison after his prime, still, his aura was huge from what I recall. I've seen Trout play, he's a player for the ages. It's unreal how Mantle like he is. We should feel blessed as baseball fans to have his enthusiasm for the game, in the game. If you haven't seen him in person, you should.

[Runscott]

First time I saw Trout was in 2012 at Seattle. We sat right behind the Angels' dugout. Trout made a point of jogging over to Tori Hunter at the end of each inning and joking around with him all the way to the dugout. When Hunter came out of the game, his replacement tried to talk to Trout on the way in from the outfield after each inning, and each time Trout totally ignored him.

Seemed to me that Trout was letting his 'maybe-a-Mantle' status go to his head quite early in his career.

[Centauri]

Wasn't Barry Bonds the next Mantle?

[Runscott]

It's a long list. I believe the first one was Bobby Murcer.

[Sean]

Originally Posted by Centauri

Wasn't Barry Bonds the next Mantle?

So was Kirk Gibson.

[Runscott]

ML history is littered with guys who were studs for 5-8 years, then fell off the charts. Early comparisons are fine, and unavoidable if you follow baseball with any passion, but we'll see if he goes the way of Mattingly, Garciaparra, etc.

As he's a friggin Angel, I sort of hope he fades away in some manner that doesn't involve much pain.